Top News - November - 2003 Published November 10, 2003 Peace Hills Trust showcases Aboriginal art Claim ratification paves way for oilsands venture Aboriginal youth gather for Dreamcatcher 2003 This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the November 2003 issue of Alberta Sweetgrass. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sweetgrass, then you have missed out on a lot. Click here for Alberta Sweetgrass subscription information. Peace Hills Trust showcases Aboriginal art Yvonne Irene Gladue, Sweetgrass Writer, Edmonton Hundreds of people gathered at the Wingate Inn on Oct. 23 to celebrate the winners of the 21st annual Peace Hills Trust First Nations Art Competition. The evening included a luncheon, a dance performance, speeches and an opening prayer done by renowned artist Allen Sapp. Several paintings from Aboriginal artists across Canada dotted the lobby and hallway of the hotel as people stood munching on finger foods and sipping on their drinks. While the first place winner's work will be displayed in the reception area of Peace Hills Trust in Edmonton, the second and third place winners will be replicated on a Christmas card or desk calendar. Chris Lynch-Aquart is from Cold Lake in northern Alberta, but now calls Calgary home. He took home the first place win of $2,000, a certificate and a calendar displaying his work entitled Ancestral Reminiscence, which is a portrait of his good friend Melanie Parsons. "I took a photograph of her and I painted it from that. She is the one who inspired me. I would say to the youth, we must keep educating ourselves and we have to explore every possibility for our accomplishments," he said. Lynch-Aquart, who also came in first in the 1999 Peace Hills Trust competition, said the did not expect to win this time because he is aware that everyone has different tastes in artwork and it depends on who the judges are. "The award evening was really good. There was a lot of people, lots of support." A full-time career as an artist is not what Lynch-Aquart is looking for right now. He said that he is comfortable with his job so that is what he is concentrating on. Warren Hannay, president and chief executive officer of Peace Hills Trust, said they receive hundreds of submissions of art each year. He said that although 300 pieces were displayed during the show, a couple of hundred pieces from schools across the country were not shown during the evening because they did not have the room. Hannay said he was happy to see a lot of past winners and a lot of the artists who submitted their works attend the celebration. "We were flattered that Allen was able to make it. Obviously, when we can have Allen Sapp attend our ceremony with his artwork, well that was great. I thought it was a good evening and I thought that the Wingate Hotel did a great job. . . "This art show is for artists who are just starting and establishing themselves. They get exposure whether they come in first, second or third. All three winners have their art work become a part of the permanent Peace Hills Art collection, so it is not just the money, this really showcases the Aboriginal artists," said Hannay. Top

Claim ratification paves way for oilsands venture Cheryl Petten, Sweetgrass Writer, Fort McKay First Nation Members of Fort McKay First Nation have voted in favor of a land claim settlement that will see the community receive 92 sq. km of land and close to $40 million in compensation. The vote was held on Oct. 23 and 24, with 92 per cent of votes cast in favor of accepting the compensation package. The First Nation filed its land claim with the federal courts in 1986, and it was accepted for negotiation in 1999. "We've been involved in negotiations with the provincial and federal governments, as well as third party interests, since 1999," Fort McKay Chief Jim Boucher said. With ratification of the settlement, the First Nation can now turn its attentions to using its new lands as a means of creating jobs and economic opportunities for its membership. Located 55 km north of Fort McMurray in the heart of the Athabasca oil sands, it's no surprise that the First Nation has decided to capitalize on the resource at hand. The thick, black bitumen can be extracted and upgraded into synthetic crude oil, and that has made the oil industry the biggest employer in the region. "We essentially have initialed the agreements which identified certain portions of land to be leased out to a company for the purpose of mining and extraction of the bitumen from the tar sands. That lease allows the companies to explore to determine the quality and quantity of bitumen," Boucher said. While the First Nation will be concentrating on the mining end of things in the short term, in the longer term, the community may consider expanding to include on-reserve facilities to extract the bitumen from the oil sands. This proposed oil sands project is a natural next step for the First Nation, many of whose members are already involved in the oil sector, either through employment with the big operators-Suncor, Syncrude and Albian-or in businesses servicing those operations. "We're developing the capacity in the community, and I think that's something that everyone has embraced with regards to the oil industry," Boucher said. "We have people involved right from management on down to the floor worker. We have truck drivers, we have heavy equipment operators, we have people working on the geo-technical side, environmental services." The First Nation is also in the process of developing an industrial park where it will lease space to companies servicing the oilsands industry. It operates a bison ranch in partnership with Syncrude Canada, located on land reclaimed from a former mining site. With the land claim ratification vote behind them, the next step for Fort McKay First Nation will be to look at the environmental and engineering aspects of the proposed oilsands mining project, and to get regulatory approval for the project, as well as approval from the band membership. "I think we could be up and running possibly on a smaller scale project probably within two or three years. That's if all the elements come together. In terms of the mining scheme on the reserve portion, that might take us another 10 years to plan out and to incorporate," Boucher said. The project is just the latest move by the First Nation to create economic development and employment opportunities for its members, Boucher explained. "And we do that because we don't want to see the social upheaval as a result of people not being able to work or not developing the capacity to work," he said. "We need to start addressing economic opportunities for our people on a long-term basis which is sustainable. We can't be mired in poverty forever. We have to break the log-jam sooner or later." Top Aboriginal youth gather for Dreamcatcher 2003 Debora Steel, Sweetgrass Writer, Edmonton Each year since 1993, Aboriginal youth from across Canada have converged on Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton to take part in a weekend of activity that promotes healthy living and healthy choices for a fulfilled life. This year, the college had 1,500 young people pre-register for the Dreamcatcher Conference-Oct. 17 to 19-with hundreds more walking in to take part in the events that included workshops and presentations and a wide variety of entertainment. The conference began with a performance by Inuit throat singers Lucy Tulugarjuk and Elena Iyerak of Igloolik, Nunavut. Others who performed on opening night included the Rainbow Spirit Dancers from Edmonton Catholic Schools, and a dance group from the Gwich'in Nation in the Northwest Territories, who raised more than $16,000 to attend the gathering. Opening ceremonies included a grand entry, with host drum Alexis Singers doing the honors of bringing in the college's guests and dignitaries-Elder Joe P. Cardinal and Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith among them. Smith took the opportunity to remind the young people in attendance of the dangers of illicit drugs. He said he had made a promise to himself that whenever he had the chance he was going to talk about the toll that drug use and drug trafficking was taking on our society. The evening ended with a round dance. The next day participants were busy with workshops, including a storytelling presentation by Denise Miller of CFWE, The Native Perspective, a radio station heard across the province. Miller captivated her audience with the tale of the curious little girl, among other stories, and songs filled with modern-day adventure. Young people learned how to make rope out of cedar, what lies gangs tell to recruit, and how to move their bodies to a hip-hop beat. Noon-hour entertainment included performances by country singer Crystal Anne and hip-hop artists REDDNATION. Top